Final Hour and Here After
by Zenaphobia
Summary: Short ficlet on final scene of the show's finale. *SPOILER ALERT* Set right at the end of 7x22 Chosen. B/S Only. Plz R/R. 1st posted Apr8,03
1. Final Hour and Here After

* NOTE * Same story on different ff.net account. See my profile.   
  
* APOLOGIES * I received a couple of comments saying that I posted spoilers in my summary. I'm terribly sorry about it but this story is actually written before that particular spoiler is released so I wasn't aware of it until now. I've changed my summary since then but fanfiction.net is taking its time updating. So bear with me for now until the site updates. Sorries again, and I promise I'll be more careful next time.   
  
* SPOILER WARNING * Story is set at the end of 7x22 Chosen. So expect spoilers.   
  
* DEATH TOLL WARNING * Body count sharply increasing. Be warned!   
  
* DISCLAIMER * Don't own anything.   
  
  
  
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_"I don't need strength to kill myself. I just need the sun to rise."_ - Angel (BtVS 3x10 Amends)   
_"You're not supposed to die! This isn't the plan!"_ - First Evil (BtVS 3x10 Amends)   
  
_"It all comes down to love."_ - First Evil (BtVS 7x20 Touched)   
  
_"The vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will shanshu...become human. It's his reward."_ - Wesley (Angel 1x22 To Shanshu in LA)   
  
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Sunrise is approaching. He, like any other vampires, can smell it long before it actually happens. Standing at the top of the cliff, he looks down for one last time at what's remained in this broken world.   
  
The battle against the First was a brutal strike. No matter how hard they fought, waves and waves of ubervamps kept crashing upon them without a pause. People were killed. Armies were destroyed. The witch is dead. So are the watcher and the potentials. The others are not much better off. Him and the Slayer are all of the fighting force that is left.   
  
"Please, you have to go inside. The sun's coming up." The slayer has caught up with the vampire on the cliff.   
  
"I know. I can smell it." He replies. He has no intention to back down. There is a world that needs saving. There is a GIRL that needs saving, and he's the only one who has the power to do it.   
  
Not far behind them lies a portal of some sort, from which the arms of ubervamps emerge. They come in contact with a glowing barrier, then retract back into the seal at a painful shriek. A spell is holding them off, but not for long, for it is obvious that the barrier is slowly weakening.   
  
"Please don't, Spike. There has to be another way!" Buffy pleads with tears forming in her eyes. "We just have to find it!"   
  
"We don't have the time, Buffy! If you haven't noticed yet, we are extremely short in man power, and the witch's spell won't hold for much longer." Spike pointed at the glowing barrier as he speaks. "She died for it. Neither of us want her last effort to go to waste, now do we?"   
  
"Spike, please."   
  
"Buffy, just this once. Let me be strong."   
  
The blond slayer breaks down into tears as her memory flashes back to a very familiar moment. She sees the first man she ever loved, haunted by the same villain, waiting for his end at sunrise. That night she got a miracle, and all she can do now is desperately hope for one again.   
  
"But..."   
  
"No buts, slayer. This is the least I can do for you." With that said he begins walking towards the seal. A few more minutes and the sun will rise. It's now or never.   
  
Buffy watched in despair. She knows what he has in mind yet she can't stop him. The determination in his eyes has explained everything to her. As he walks past her, she lets out her final goodbye in a whisper.   
  
"I love you, Spike. Just that you know."   
  
"Thanks luv." He says. "Thanks for saying it. You've always been the one with the kind and beautiful heart."   
  
The couple lock eyes on each other as the first beam of sunlight escapes from the horizon. On his face she sees the contentment he feels from her words. He has waited for so long to hear from her those three little words, and he's finally gotten his reward. To him, nothing more matters. He has conquered his quest and found his treasure. There is nothing else she can do. On her face he sees the pain she feels from his decision. She has waited for so long to let out those three little words, and she's going to lose him forever in less than a minute. To her, nothing more matters. She has chosen to work the mission and needed help. There is only one more thing he has to do.   
  
"Spirits and powers that be, hear my calling." The voice of the blond vampire pierces through the dimensions like a crack of thunder. "The soul is my gift. The love is my power. Let them bring light upon life as does sun upon earth. I shall be the vessel that wields thy power, to cast away the non-living!"   
  
Spike recites the spell that Willow told him as the sun continues to climb. Light crawls slowly onto his body inch by inch, setting it first into sizzling smoke then a blazing flame. Yet he stands his ground.   
  
"Spirits, hear my calling! Accept my gift and my power! Cast away the non-living!" The flame escalated as if in response to his cry, devouring the vampire until nothing but fine dust remains.   
  
"I love you, Buffy. This is my gift, for you." The wind carries Spike's last words to the devastated slayer, as it brushes gently past her like a soft embrace.   
  
As the wind blows his ashes over the seal, it begins to dissipate and disappears from sight. Along with it, all things non-living are banished from Sunnydale. Vampires, demons, the First Evil, the hellmouth. All banished by the unleashing of the vampire's final power, taken over by the new day. New life. New beginning.   
  
  
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A girl stands on a sunlit cliff, looking down to the silent world at her feet. A man with bleached blond hair approaches and wraps his arms around her waist.   
  
"Hey." The girl greets him without even turning around. "Look at them. You've done a pretty good job."   
  
"Yeah, bet." He answered with a smirk on his face. "Quite a miracle."   
  
"Yeah, a miracle." She whispered. "So why are you here? Bringing me another miracle?"   
  
"Do you need one?"   
  
"Hmm." She tightens his embrace over her, feeling his warmth and his heartbeat. "Already holding it."   
  
  
  
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* END NOTE * Very short ficlet, and don't ask me how things happen, coz I didn't really think that deep. Just writing what came up in my little head. I find it really lame but kinda pretty. Do you find it lame? R/R and tell me what you think.   
  
* MORE NOTE * Yeah, for once not a song fic. But do tell me what you think by reviewing. Thanxies. Oh, and I don't mind negative comments, as long as they're constructive criticism (ie. more than just "you suck") 


	2. Response to Reviews

I got from several reviews that there's some confusion about my story (yeah, it was a one chap fic. There's no more to it). So here's my response:   
  
* CLARIFICATION * Ok. This story is inspired by spoilers but not entirely based on spoilers. So there're many things that're made up, such as character death, the way Spike dies, and the way he relives as human etc. And I delibrately miss out many characters (Xander, Anya, Dawn etc). As I said in the summary, this story is B/S-centric.   
  
* EXPLANATION * Ok. This is for the confused: I wrote this story based on the Shanshu prophecy thread on Angel (see quote on very top, it says it all). Yup I made Spike live, as human too by fulfilling the prophecy after saving the world (I assume THAT's his destiny). Girl on the cliff IS Buffy (duh). Don't forget, I'm a die hard Spuffy shipper, so I won't kill off either of them forever, nor will I ever let Angel get in their way to happily ever after. Email me if you're still confused :) 


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